She ran to the entrance of the village and looked down at the ruined streets at the smoking buildings. She put her fingers to her lips.
I shifted out of wolf form and put on a cloak from my bag. I called out, “Sinead!”
She looked up and saw me approaching through the woods. “Camber? You’re here?”
I hurried over to her, my arms outstretched.
She hugged me.
We stood that way, embracing, for a long time.
Finally, she pulled back. “I came to warn you. But it’s too late. I waited until last night to take the car. I didn’t want Vivia to know that I had overheard.”
“Overheard what?” I said.
“Vivia. She did it all for money,” said Sinead, shaking her head in disbelief. “She’s nothing like we thought she was. She used you. She manipulated Judah. She did it all for a payout. The vampires handed over a lot of money to her, and that’s all she cares about.”
“Wait, slow down. What are you talking about? Vivia’s working with the vampires?”
“She’s taking down packs. She’s done it before, apparently.”
At this point, both Ewan and Amber came out of the woods, both in human form. They were similarly wrapped in cloaks.
“Who is this, Camber?” Amber was wary.
“Sinead!” said Ewan.
Sinead smiled at him. “Ewan.”
“You recognize each other?”
“We texted pics,” said Ewan. “You’re here. What are you doing here?”
“She sneaked out and stole a car,” I said. “Vivia’s done something awful, but I haven’t worked out what.”
“The Redwood Pack?” said Sinead. “They were destroyed.”
“Right,” said Amber, her face pale. “Their protection spell didn’t hold for some reason. The bloods found them, destroyed their village. Some were killed. Some scattered.”
“Vivia did that,” said Sinead. “She didn’t give them a proper protection spell.”
“But our spell was tested,” said Ewan. “We’re not idiots. It was strong. It was tied to the bond of the alpha to his pack and to his mate. Unless that failed—” He broke off. “Oh.”
“Vivia is the one who mated Judah and Camber,” said Sinead. “She knew that they wouldn’t form a strong bond. She knew about Judah and his girlfriend Tegan or whatever.”
“Tempest,” I said.
“Yeah,” said Sinead. “So, she mated you on purpose to weaken the spell. And they might not have struck for weeks yet, but then your pack made that raid on the bloodhounds’ headquarters, and that really pissed them off. They showed up at Vivia’s and they wanted to know if what she did had time to work yet, if they could get in and destroy the village. I saw them arrive, and I eavesdropped. I couldn’t understand why Vivia was inviting vampires into our home. I had to know what it was about. I saw them paying her off.”
“Well, if they’re angry,” said Ewan, “why did so many of us survive? With the Redwood Pack, so many were killed.”
“They’re not done with you,” said Sinead. “They’re going to track you through the woods.”
“We have to tell the council this,” I said. “It changes everything. I can’t have Vivia create a new spell, not after what she’s done. She’s betrayed us.”
* * *
I had to repeat the news several times, because council members didn’t seem to have heard me.
“You’re saying what?” Mary said. “What are you saying about Vivia?”
I explained it again and again in different words. She’d done this on purpose. She’d done it for money.
It was crowded out in the amphitheater. Though I had only called for the council, word had spread, and other members of the pack were there, including some of the humans. Everyone was panicked.
There was a frantic undercurrent of conversation that seemed to be going on at all times. The buzz of it combined with the emotions of the pack reverberated through me. I felt awful.
“Do something.” Neil grabbed me by the arm. “Calm the pack. Use the bond.”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand. Don’t you see? This means that I was never meant to be Judah’s mate, and I was never meant to be the pack’s alpha.”
“What?” said Mary. “What are you saying about being the alpha?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Neil. “Of course you were meant to be our alpha.”
“But Vivia manipulated—”
“It doesn’t matter,” spoke up Henry, who had apparently been listening to Neil and I. “You are our alpha, the only one we have.”
“Calm the pack,” ordered Neil.
I took a deep breath, tried to gather myself, and then I sent out a tendril of calm to the gathered members. I didn’t think it would work. But strangely, as they calmed, I did too, as if we were feeding off each other, like a closed system. Maybe we did belong together. Or maybe Henry was right. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t be sure.
“Listen,” said Henry. “We can’t let this derail us all. It’s a blow, to be sure, but we must be concerned first and foremost with the safety of the pack.”
I nodded. “That’s true. We are in danger.”
“You said the bloods are tracking us through the woods?” said Neil.
I nodded again.
“They could attack any time?” said Mary.
“Yes,” I said softly.
“All right, well, what are we going to do about that?” said Henry.
Everyone looked at me.
I didn’t have answers for them.
“This isn’t a new threat,” said Neil. “This is the same threat as always. The vampires are coming for us through their agents of destruction, the bloods. We have several options. We can hide, we can run, or we can fight.”
“We don’t have anywhere else to run to,” said Henry.
“And we can’t win in a fight against them,” I said.
“What if we could find someone else to do the protection spell?” said Mary.
“Someone besides Vivia?” I said. “Is that possible?”
“She’s not the only witch in the woods,” said Neil. “There are others.”
“The problem is that the protection spell is always tied into the alphas’ bond,” said Henry. “We don’t stand much chance of strengthening that, and you are refusing to take a new mate.”
“We tie it to Tempest,” I said.
“We don’t even know if that’s possible,” said Neil.
“I think it could be,” said Mary.
“Tempest isn’t here,” said Henry. “Neither is Judah. We don’t know how the spell would work, or if it’s possible to make it work without them present.”
“Well, maybe I can get Tempest back,” I said. “But I don’t think I have time to go after her and go talk to the witch.”
“We’ll go to see the witch,” said Mary.
“Who?” I said.
“Henry and I,” said Mary, nodding at him. “You know who I’m speaking of, yes? Geneva?”
Henry nodded slowly. “All right. We can visit her.”
“We have to do it quickly,” I said. “Tonight, if possible.”
“We’ll set off at once,” said Mary.
* * *
“Camber!” someone was calling. “Camber!”
I turned. I had been on my way up and out of the amphitheater, my thoughts full of going to find Tempest, and what I would say to her when I got there.
It was Sinead. She was hurrying over to me.
“Sinead,” I said, reaching out both hands for her. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do right now. Everything’s gone crazy.”
“I know,” she said, grabbing my hands. “I’m sorry that I brought such bad news about Vivia.”
“Well, I’m glad we know the truth,” I said, squeezing her hands. “Come on, walk with me. I’ll find you someplace to stay.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Ewan is looking after me. He said he found me a cabin to sle
ep in. There are bunk beds, actually. I thought maybe we could stay there together?”
I smiled. “That sounds great. I would love to share a cabin with you.”
She grinned. “I wish the circumstances were better, but I’m glad to be back with you.”
“I’m glad you’re here too.” Then I waggled my eyebrows at her. “So, uh, you and Ewan, huh? Texting pics? He’s scouting out cabins for you? Is this serious?”
She looked away, a little embarrassed. “I don’t know. He’s nice. He’s cute. He’s…”
“Charming, I know,” I said. “And he seems like a good guy. I just… I jumped into things with Judah, and I’m not sure if I should have. Be careful, okay?”
“Oh, you sound like my mom.” She rolled her eyes.
I walked her up to the cabin we’d be sharing and then I got ready to head out to look for Tempest. I brought Amber and a couple of the other wolves with me, and we set out right away. We only stopped to pick up some provisions—peace offerings we would hand over to Tempest in the hopes of making it easier to talk to her.
It would have been easier to find Tempest if I could still sense her through my connection to her in the pack. But she had cut herself off entirely from me somehow, and I wasn’t sure how that had happened.
Anyway, I wouldn’t have been able to find her at all if it hadn’t been for the fact that some other members of the pack were in touch with Tempest and the others she had taken with her. Some of the others were calling their mothers or brothers on the phone, and it was someone’s brother who led me right to Tempest. Right after the council meeting, that brother had approached me and told me he knew where Tempest’s camp was.
She had set up a camp not far away from the village, which probably wasn’t safe.
They had a fire pit, and a few tents, but I couldn’t help but think that they’d all been very cold. When I entered the camp, they all stood and faced me, stony expressions on their faces.
I could have come to them in wolf form, but I didn’t want this to be a show of dominance, so instead, I came in human form, dressed and ready to talk. And as a show of good faith, I brought them some provisions and warm blankets. Even if they didn’t choose to return to the pack, they were still my pack members. I wouldn’t let them freeze to death or starve.
“I’m here to speak to Tempest,” I said.
They all stared at me, and then Tempest came forward, gazing at me with pure hatred.
“Look,” I said. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. Let’s talk. We’ve never really talked.”
“What do you want to say?”
“Judah screwed up,” I said.
She lifted her chin. “You got in his head. You made him do it. You and that witch.”
“Vivia did help,” I agreed. “She was pretty convincing. And that’s part of why I’m here, but I’ll get into that. I think, first of all, if we could agree that this is Judah’s mess, and that you and I got caught in the crossfire, we’d be closer to being on the same side.”
“If you loved Judah, you wouldn’t blame him.”
“If you weren’t so afraid of losing him, you’d realize you could call him out on his bullshit,” I said. “I’m not the problem. I’m just as confused by all of this as you are.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Okay,” I said. “Fine. You want to hate me? Hate me. But your pack needs your help. That’s why I’m here.”
“What?”
“I’m here to beg for your help. We have to create a new spell to hide us, and it can’t be tied to my bond with Judah, because I don’t have a close bond with him. But you do. We can tie the spell to you and Judah. Then, with the pack safe, we can find some way to get him back.”
She scoffed. “You expect me to believe that you would offer such a thing? You think I’m stupid?”
“I think that we’re desperate,” I said. “Listen, Judah and I were tricked by the witch Vivia, the one who created the protection spell for the village. She originally tied it to the alpha’s bond—to his pack or to his mate. When she wanted to weaken it, she tricked Judah into mating with me, because she knew that he was bonded to you and that he would never properly bond to another mate. That’s what weakened the spell. We were manipulated. All of us were. She did it for money. She was paid off.”
“So, is it really Judah’s bullshit or this witch’s?”
“Fine,” I said. “Judah is as innocent as the driven snow.”
Her nostrils flared.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be sarcastic.”
“You seduced him,” she said.
“Um, no, I did not. We mated. It was really awkward and pretty terrible, and every time I kiss him, I feel like I’m kissing my brother. I’m not a threat to you. I don’t want him. You can have him.”
“I notice you’re not offering to give up being alpha.”
“Well, you’re not an alpha,” I said. “So, would that matter?”
“How can the spell be tied to me, then?”
“Well, it might not work, but it’s our best shot,” I said. “We have to try something.”
“You’re really serious about this?”
“Yes. Now, the pack is weak, and we’re being hunted by angry bloodhounds who are coming after us after what we did to their headquarters. We need you, Tempest. Return to us. Return to your pack.”
She was quiet. “If you’re lying to me—”
“Then you’ll leave again, straight off, and I won’t stop you.”
She nodded slowly. “All right. We’ll return with you.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Tempest. And your pack thanks you too.” I offered her my hand.
She gazed down at it for what seemed like a long time before she grasped my hand.
We shook.
“This doesn’t mean I like you,” said Tempest.
I inclined my head. “Noted.” It didn’t mean I liked her either.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
But when we all returned to the hunting village, we were greeted by bad news. Upon arriving at the other witch’s house, the contingent of wolves had found her slaughtered. She had been ripped to shreds by bloods.
That was what happened to those who aided werewolves.
The vampires had sworn a long time ago to wipe us out. Not only because we were a danger to them, but because they could pretend that killing us was a public service to humans. That way the humans would believe that they needed the vampires to stay safe from the wolves and they would keep paying their blood tribute.
I felt a dark resentment for the way the entire world worked.
The worst of it, I felt, was that I had gone to Tempest for nothing. I was certain she would leave again now, and I wasn’t going to go after her. She hated me, and I had no reason for her to stay.
But word came that Tempest was settling in, despite the news. I didn’t know whether to be glad or disappointed.
I went back to the cabin that I was sharing with Sinead and I was too gutted to even cry. I didn’t know what to do now.
No one knew what to do now.
Neil came by, saying I needed to call a council meeting, but I told him that I didn’t know what to say to the council, and that we all needed time to think. Instead, I had a dinner with Sinead that consisted of rabbit that had been caught by some of the pack who’d hunted in the woods and some canned vegetables that were stored here in the village. Despite its meagerness, the meal was delicious and filling, probably the best thing I’d eaten in days.
Truthfully, I hadn’t been eating much, though, I had to admit.
Dinner over, I was exhausted and Sinead said she was too. She’d been through a lot lately.
Sinead and I bunked up together in the back room of our cabin. I lay on the top bunk in the dark and Sinead lay on the bottom bunk.
I thought I might fall asleep right away, but I didn’t. I stared into the darkness. “Did you see Ewan while I was gone?”
“For a while,” she s
aid. “He was busy. He’s helping a lot of members of the pack. He’s been going out and bringing in families—human members of the pack who didn’t know how to get here instinctively. He says he’s found almost all of them.”
“Really?” I said. I had been worried that they’d been taken prisoner by the vampires, turned into blood slaves. “That’s very good news.”
“He told me that if he can find a few more families, everyone will be accounted for.”
“Oh, I’m so relieved to know that. It’s amazing he’s taken that on. No one asked him to do that.”
“Yeah, he’s kind of great,” she said. “The more I talk to him, the more I like him. It’s not like you and Judah at all. There’s no external pressure. It just feels right.”
“But you’ve barely known him for a day,” I said.
“I’m not saying I’m going to jump between the sheets with him right off and mate,” she said. “Don’t worry.”
“Good,” I said.
“But mating with him isn’t off the table for me, you know? I really like him.”
“I know,” I said. “I get it.” I took a deep breath. “Do you think… if a guy makes you angry a good ninety percent of the time and if you contemplate murdering him on a regular basis… what do you think that means?”
She laughed. “What are you talking about? Judah?”
“No, Landon.”
“Landon?”
“Oh, right. I pretty much never talked to you about Landon.” I sighed.
“Wait a second, Camber, you have a mate.”
“I know,” I said. “And Landon is a bloodhound, so it’s not like there’s any future between us. I’m taken. He goes crazy if he gets an erection, so—”
“What the actual hell are you even talking about? A bloodhound?”
“He’s different,” I said.
“The bloodhound that brought you to Vivia’s. The one that made you and Judah leave early.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“I thought you hated him.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I mean, I do. A lot of the time I do.”
“Spill,” she ordered. “Tell me everything.”
So, I did, starting back when I first met Landon years ago, as my sister’s boyfriend who I thought was cute and funny even though I knew he was taken. To what he was now, changed, furred and clawed and bitter. And yet, still somehow I felt drawn to him. I didn’t know why.
A Symphony of Howls Page 20
